"Patience running thin"- Gajendrakumar

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 August 2004, 18:37 GMT]
''Tamil people are fast running out of patience. It has been three years since the ceasefire agreement was signed and our people continue to be denied the fruits of peace,'' Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, Tamil National Alliance MP told TamilNet Thursday.

''It has been several months since the ISGA proposals have been put forward but the Sinhala leadership collectively still is unable to get their act together and start meaningful talks.

"As far as we Tamils are concerned it is the Sinhala leadership as a whole that must accept full responsibility for this most unsatisfactory state of affairs. Internal political rivalry from within the Sinhala political establishment can no longer be cited as an excuse. The blame falls on the whole Sinhala political establishment,'' he said.

He further said, ''The present constitution cannot be cited as an obstacle to starting talks and reaching an agreement on the ISGA proposals. No one can expect an interim administration to be within the present constitution. It is the consecutive constitutions that have brought about the ethnic conflict to where it is today. When we are trying to find a solution, to expect us to confine ourselves to a constitution that is in fact the problem, is downright stupid,'' Mr.Ponnambalam said.